Greetings in 2013

Happy New Year to everyone out there who still checks in on the ol’ Wahl Posts blog from time to time! As you can see, I have been pretty lax in the updating department and rarely get to writing these days. I could blame it on my busy life (as I just came off of having 11 whole days off of work, ha), I could blame it on being lazy…. I don’t really have a great excuse. The truth is, I have done a lot of re-reading of the blog from the last two years that I have been writing and I realized that I used this place as a way to kind of “vent” or give updates on life and then when the REAL LIFE updates came into play (i.e. marriage, first career, and the like) I found myself with very little time to actually sit down and write out the daily ins and outs of my life. It’s funny because the farther back I read, the more I am aware of how much growth has taken place in my life in just three years. I can’t believe I started regularly writing on this thing in 2010. I started it out as a girl in a new long-distance relationship completing her final year of college and now my life is so completely different. In a lot of ways, I love the changes that have taken place. Lately though, I find myself willing to give anything to go back to the college days where I didn’t have much responsibility and had the freedom to do pretty much whatever I want. I know it’s foolish to want to go back, but I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t do very well with change. Change and I, we’re not BFF’s or anything… we just kind of learn to tolerate one another.

So with that being said, I’ve been working hard lately to try and accept change and put a positive spin on it. God has placed me in a work setting that has been the most challenging, difficult experience of my life so far. I love what I do, but these changes have NOT been easy. I have, however, really tried to embrace the changes and express gratefulness for the opportunity to even have a job. When I spent my first married holiday season driving back and forth between family gatherings, I didn’t necessarily have the most positive attitude about this being a change. I learned over break that it’s not about the QUANTITY of TIME I spend traveling back and forth… It’s about the QUALITY of TIME I spend being with relatives, friends and close family who I love and want to be around during Christmas and New Years. Change isn’t always fun, but it can be good.

I’m not really into the whole New Years Resolutions thing… but I am aiming to attempt and embrace changes that come my way, whether they are challenging or rewarding. It’s not really a resolution for myself for the new year, but an ongoing resolution I’ve really been working hard on lately.

Also, in an attempt to really start to expand my horizons and do something new, I have really taken to doing some fun new things lately. Might be not be your idea of “fun,” but I have taken up the art of KNITTING and I have to say, I’m completely hooked. I love it. I made 9 scarves in six weeks, two of which I gave to my mom and sister for Christmas and I gotta say… I’m really proud of myself for learning to do something and sticking with it, creating a product out of it. My husband and I have done some decent DIY projects around the apartment lately that I am quite proud of also. I guess marriage has given me the project itch and with that, I am looking at possibly making some changes with the blog by showcasing some of the work I’ve been doing. I have contemplated starting a new blog, or “re-vamping” this one, I haven’t really decided. But that’s kind of what I’ve been thinking lately. As much as I love venting or dumping the details of my life on everybody else, I am trying to find a way to showcase my newfound talents and passions and might just do it in the form of a new blog, while occasionally updating the eager reader on life details from time to time J

I hope you continue to check back and when/if these changes take place, believe that I will keep you POSTED! On a serious note, I really do hope your new year is filled with new beginnings , opportunities, and blessings. 2012 was a pretty good year to me and I am looking forward to seeing the path my life is on as we head into 2013!

Total Relaxation

Typically, Sunday's give me a wide range of mixed feelings.

I love Sunday's for the following reasons:
-Church
-Chore tackling (laundry, groceries, errands if necessary)
-Couch dwelling (surprisingly, I didn't take a nap today during the afternoon football watching)
-Catch-up with family (the last few have been spent with Dusty's side, last week we hung out with my fam)


But then at the same time, I loathe Sunday's because:
-I am a teacher, therefore, I know the full effect of feeling the "Sunday night blues"

Today was different though. Actually, this whole weekend had a very pleasant tone of TOTAL RELAXATION. I did a lot for me, as evidenced by my post Friday night (case in point, who do you know who updates their blog on a Friday?!). I cut my hair past my shoulders (love it), I took in a movie I have been DYING to see (Spielberg's Lincoln, more on that in a minute), I spent lots of time with my husband, I had a great time Saturday night with friends at a Chili Cook-off (hence the meal choice for Friday night) and I spent the entire day today doing absolutely nothing. I guess it helps that this week is short, being that Thursday is Thanksgiving (quite possibly my favorite holiday). I guess it also helps to know that tomorrow night I am getting together with friends once again- I am wrapping up a scarf I have worked hard on knitting- and also get to spend Tuesday on another field trip-- this time to the Minnesota School of Cosmetology with our female students. The real catch of this trip? We all get pedicures!! :)

Ya know, they really fail to mention all the teacher perks like free pedicures when you're taking your education classes in college.

I've tried to readjust my attitude towards Sunday's as of late to look at them not as a dark cloud over the impending week to come- but as a last day for relaxing and taking in wonderful things to prepare and recharge for the week ahead. What's not to love about Sunday's? Football games all day long, catching up on Nashville while taking a bubble bath (totally did that today), cleaning my bedroom, making homemade pizza with Dusty, and excitedly making my lunch for tomorrow because we DID go grocery shopping today and really made a haul on delicious food!

Oh and ya know how I mentioned Lincoln earlier? Great movie. I had to see it being I am a history teacher and all... and I knew the hype surrounding Daniel Day-Lewis's performance was for a reason. Holy Crap... I felt like I was legitimately watching Honest Abe in the flesh the entire two hours and thirty minutes of the film. It took a little different approach than I was expecting (it's not really about Lincoln's life as much as it is his efforts to pass the immensely historical 13th amendment) but I loved it anyway. But what I really loved, was DDL's performance. It was so inspiring that Dust and I just spent the last three hours watching a previous DDL classic: There Will Be Blood. I had never seen it- wow. How can one guy play such an array of movie roles and make it look SO CONVINCING?

I have a new favorite actor.

Anyway, I know they won't always be this way, but today? I loved me some Sunday. It was a great way to wrap up my weekend.

Oh and as long as I'm still on the subject of movies, Dust and I also spent a chunk of time preparing for our fourth annual Miller/Wahl Thanksgiving Movie Marathon that we participate in every year with my siblings and my dad. We basically have a movie watching rally from about 9 in the morning until 4 pm in the afternoon when we head over to my aunt's house for turkey. This year we're kicking things off early on Wednesday night and have compiled our list of potential options of movies to watch. Here they are:
-Gremlins
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
-Disney's Hercules
-Monsters Inc
-Alien
-Love Actually
-Christmas Vacation

How's that for a list? We have to start Wednesday because my dad's football team made the playoffs this year and therefore have PRACTICE on Thanksgiving Day. Kinda great, and kinda sucky. Not that it really matters, because typically any time you pop in a movie with my dad, he's out in less than five minutes.

Case in point.

Happy Thanksgiving Week to all! :) Stay tuned for a potential post on the next best thing to Thanksgiving Day... Black Friday, and all of it's crazy antics, coming my way in just four short days.

FRIDAY

Now that everyone who reads this site faithfully knows exactly what I've been up to the last few months, I feel like I can be candid. The past four, five-ish weeks at work have been REALLY good. I feel like making it up to the MEA weekend in Minnesota was like crossing a sort of finish line- I had essentially survived my first quarter of teaching, I was getting into a groove of dividing up my time (lesson planning, teaching, plus trying to squeeze in having a life) and I started to feel like my rapport with the students was improving. It felt like they were starting to trust and respect me. Pair that with a couple of other milestones here and there (like re-taking my license exam for the fourth time, having two days off in two weeks, and BUYING  A NEW CAR) and I started to really feel like MAN- I'm kinda on top of the world. In fact, you might say that I was starting to develop a little bit of swagger- I use that word only for the simple fact that I hear it MULTIPLE times a day working in an alternative school setting.

Well, that being said, I guess in this roller coaster journey I've been riding since starting my new job, it all had to come crashing down. I was on this uphill battle for the months of August to September... reached October and threw my hands up in the air for the fun rush of reaching the top... and this week, I definitely am feeling myself round the corner and climb up the rickety hill again. It all started Monday when Dusty and I drove to Farmington to pick up said new car mentioned earlier, only to be told we couldn't take it home until Tuesday. Oh-kay... there goes a nice 35 mile drive out of the way, down the tubes. Disappointment #1.

Tuesday rolled around and it was actually a really great day. I was asked a couple months ago to chaperone a field trip for our junior and senior students to Mankato on a visit to the university. It went great and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the campus and seeing my student's eyes light up learning about the possibility of attending college. However... we had a mishap on the bus on the way back, I didn't get home until 445 (unheard of for me most weeknights) and then we had to drive BACK to Farmington to pick up our new car. It was a stressful, long day. Driving to Mankato, back to the cities, BACK DOWN to Farmington made me crabby and tired.

Make a long story short- I dealt with students getting kicked out of school, loads of grading, a LOT of subbing for teachers who were out sick, plus lesson planning for the next few days up to Thanksgiving, I was beginning to feel stretched pretty thin. On top of that I don't know how, but my husband convinced me last night to go see the new Twilight movie at 10 pm.... Who else is in a marriage where the MAN of the relationship is the one convincing his wife to go see the latest installment of a popular teen rom-com vampire saga? Anyone?

Bueller? Bueller?

I definitely let myself get ahead of things by feeling on top of the world and thinking all was right in my universe. I was quickly brought back down to reality through a variety of events this week. I started to analyze myself and realized that sometimes, if I'm not doing anything and just sitting around, I feel antsy and kind of lazy. I feel much more succesful and overall accomplished when I'm constantly busy and doing something at all times. Whether its being with friends, planning my lessons, catching up on blogs, or cleaning the apartment, I realized today that I don't really let myself just BE.

That's why tonight, as I sit curled up with a blanket next to my parent's amazing electric fireplace, with my dog at my side snoring quietly, I am thanking God and myself for taking a time out from the busyness of life and letting myself enjoy my Friday night. I so needed this. Want to know what else I did?

That's right; I cooked myself dinner. I went to Target, I bought all the ingredients I needed, and I made Pumpkin Turkey Chili with homemade cornbread. It wouldn't be a typical night for me if I didn't occupy my time some more by shopping at Target, of course, but I literally chopped the veggies, sauteed the ingredients, and made chili for the first time in my life, all by myself. It was so wonderfully satisfying to be able to do something like that. And I highly recommend the recipe if you love autumn and love pumpkin (I found it on AllRecipes. Delicious). I am having an unexpectdly quiet night housesitting and dogsitting for my rents, who are in Chicago, and without my husband (sick at home) who I miss. But I am enjoying the time alone. It's kind of nice to just BE.

It was when I finally sat down to eat my homemade meal, prepared all by myself, that I realized I need to do things like this more often. Do things for ME when I find I have the time. I realized tonight that tonight might have been the first night I have cooked ANYTHING since I have been MARRIED! Um... what?! Five months without allowing myself to cook a meal?! Seriously!

 

I am loving a break from the busyness tonight and I had to share with others- maybe you need a break like me too. And if not? Maybe you need to just try cooking this chili, because it's amazing. And if you have any leftover turkey, give it to your dog. But I promise, he won't look this cute after licking the bowl clean, like mine did.



A creative way of updating the Blogosphere

Since reader's have waited for a post on the edge of their seat...

I am updating my blog as a very special treat.

But since I have been absent 

(You may have thought I wouldn't come back!)

I have decided to get creative- this is a poem!

Cut me some slack.

It was a pleasant day in August when I was shopping at the mall, 

When to my surprise I had an unknown phone call

This call was from a school, with a job to which I had applied

I expected not to hear a word... but could at least have said I tried

But to my surprise my stomach dropped when they asked me to come in

They would like to interview, I said yes with a nervous grin

And in a chain of insane events I found myself employed

And starting school in just three days- my confidence was destroyed

For not only was I stepping in to a situation unknown- but I had to quit my other two jobs

Where I really felt at home

Nonetheless I prayed it through and started school with a bang

Four classes and forty students a day- might not sound that insane

But I am teaching in a place that isn't quite the norm

It's an alternative setting where kids have faced the storm

Of struggling through traditional school and falling through the cracks

But I was on a mission to let them know- Ms. Wahl has got your back

In the meantime fall came in full force to give me a fresh breath

There are days when just the crisp fall breeze helps when I feel like there's nothing left

This job has presented challenges that make me want to scream

But then I have those moments- breakthroughs- where the students make me beam

Like the day a student told me that he learned when teachers smile

Or when I was absent due to sickness "Ms. Wahl I missed you- Ain't seen you in awhile!"

Or when I have a moment that I question what I do

And I grade a test that shows me that with the students, I'm getting through

Updates on my family life? Dust and I are doing great 

He has put up with quite a bit since I started as of late

He still is loving his job at school- 

And is thinking about going back to school (can only get so creative)

The coolest thing about this job is seeing the work of The Lord

I find myself always content and NEVER feeling bored

God knew that this was where I had to be this year

He told me to put all trust in HIM- Although I still have fear

The Lord knew that it would work great when Dusty sold his car

To place me at a job that really wasn't far

We are down to just one car but spend every day

Chatting on the way to work- amazing, what more can I say?

So now I am a teacher I thought I'd never see the day

They tell you jobs are out there but to that I say no way

I'm so content, insanely busy, every day is new

But I wouldn't trade anything for what I get to do

I promise to update more but had to update first

I hope you have enjoyed this blogpost written in Verse.

The end. I got a job, that's why I haven't written. Even though most people who read this already knew that. XO